PARIS | There are defeats that hurt more than others. Denis Shapovalov spoke for a long time about the pain he experienced during this first round match at Roland-Garros on Tuesday, in which he easily admitted defeat by the Dane Holger Rune.
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Because this dry defeat of 6-3, 6-1 and 7-6 (4) at the hands of Rune, a youngster on the rise who already ranks 40th in the ATP, could not have come at a worse time.
Le 15e world, 14e favorite in Paris, hoped to take advantage of the next two weeks at the Porte d’Auteuil to earn valuable points in the standings.
Due to the ATP and WTA’s joint decision not to distribute any at Wimbledon – a form of retaliation for the tournament, which banned Russians and Belarusians following the invasion of Ukraine – , Shapovalov will lose in mid-July the 720 points that allowed him to obtain his semi-final at the All England Club last year.
Disagree with everything
According to his results in the coming weeks, during grass competitions which prepare for the third Grand Slam lift of the season, he is likely to be excluded from the world top 20 in July, or even to find himself lower still.
Bitterly disappointed, at a press conference, the 23-year-old said on Tuesday that he disagreed with both the decision of Wimbledon and that of the ATP.
“I understand that there is this political situation at stake, but, again, it is a tennis tournament which must welcome the best athletes in the world, no matter where you come from. Everyone should be able to participate, first stated the left-hander.
“But I don’t agree with the ATP to withdraw these points either,” he added. The majority of people it affects are the people who are at the top of the leaderboard, “Huby” [Hubert Hurkacz]Novak [Djokovic]myself, [Matteo] Berrettini who does not play here in Paris. »
“Shapo” believes that the ATP could have handled the situation differently, for example by offering 50% of the points. Like several other players, he says he was not made aware of the procedures.
The Ontarian does not know if he will be at Wimbledon at the end of June. He gives himself the next two days to think about it.
“I focused on [Roland-Garros]since I thought it would be an important tournament to get as many points as possible,” he explained.
ShapovalOUT
Of course, the situation between Wimbledon and the ATP is beyond his control. But Shapovalov had his destiny – and that of his ranking – in hand on Tuesday, when he showed up on court number 12 at 11 a.m. KST.
Surely, if he could have chosen who would stand on the other side of the net for this first-round game, the Canadian might not have gone for Rune.
At only 19 years old, the Dane is already ranked 40th in the world. He recently won the title at the clay-court tournament in Munich, then made the semi-final in Lyon just before flying to Roland-Garros.
Shapovalov was never really in the game, except late in the third set, when he broke his young rival at 5-4, when he was serving for the victory.
But the 14th seed couldn’t keep up the pace in the tiebreaker and her chances of extending the game were gone.
Too many unforced errors
Tuesday, the field seemed too small for “Shapo”, who was guilty of no less than 53 unforced errors.
“As I have an aggressive game, when it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work”, pointed out the one who now works with his compatriot Peter Polansky.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve made so many mistakes,” he said afterwards. Obviously, it’s always bad when it happens in Grand Slams. It’s something that I have to improve, I have to make changes. »
Shapovalov will have to adjust quickly, before the preparatory grass tournaments begin. Or, if he opts for this path, he can take advantage of a two-week break during Wimbledon in order to refine his game.
live from paris
Cream cheese for Andreescu’s 6-0
Hours after her two-piece victory over Belgian qualifier Ysaline Bonaventure on Monday, Bianca Andreescu took part in a humorous video posted on Instagram, in which a blogger offered her “cream cheese” for her bagel.
– Hey Bianca, do you want some cream cheese? asks David Chen.
– Why ? answers the Canadian.
– For that bagel! says Chen.
– Oh yes, please! launches Andreescu, before leaving to laugh.
Screenshot taken from Instagram
In tennis lingo, a bagel is an inning that ends 6-0. The expression originated from the resemblance between the bun with a hole in the middle and the number 0.
Chen is an amateur tennis player who publishes on his social networks several photos and videos with the pros he meets during tournaments. He also made friends with some of them.
The video was notably picked up by the website of the Figarowith the title “Andreescu bedroom [se moque de] his opponent after inflicting a 6-0 on him”. Other amateur sites were even more vocal, accusing the 21-year-old Ontarian of having lacked sportsmanship against her first-round rival, who occupies the 168e rank. However, on Monday, the Canadian did not seem at all to want to make fun of Bonaventure, whom she rather praised for her game and “his good tactics”. The ex-fourth in the world was really relieved to have passed through this test.
Si Andreescu, now ranked 72eseems rather proud of this 6-0 on the video, a quite rare score, she has not yet taken it up on her own social networks.